Brand New Start
by SmilBe
Summary: Yoh suddenly decides that he wants a pet. Surprisingly, Anna agrees to his suggestion. Which pet will Yoh choose? Did he make a good decision? Finally Complete.
1. Day 1

Another fanfic of Shaman King. I'll keep doing them until I'm bored of it. XD Anyway, this is supposed to be a humorous one! ^_^ BTW, if you don't know Matamune, it actually comes out in volume 19-20 of Shaman King. If you don't know what it is, you just need to know that it is...a cat spirit who was Yoh's first spirit before.   
-SmilBe  
  
Brand New Start---Day 1:  
  
"...Anna."  
"Hmmm..?" Anna glanced at Yoh from her dishes.  
Yoh looked at Anna straight in the eyes. "I want a pet."  
Anna stopped, and stared at him. Then she bursted into laughters. "What the heck?! You want a pet? Isn't Amidamaru and the other spirits enough for you?!"  
Yoh shook his head. "Nope."  
She paused. "You're serious?"  
"Yep."  
"..."  
"..."  
"Fine."  
"Really?" Yoh jumped up and down excitedly.  
"But only one."  
"Of course. I don't need two."  
"Well, then...what sort of pet do you want?" Anna asked.  
"Ehh? ...well..." Yoh stammered a bit, "I kinda wanna try a pet kitty first."  
Anna pretended to barf. "Don't say that awful word. Say "cat". Simple, isn't it? Are you wanting one because it makes you think of Matamune?"  
Yoh hesitated, with his memories flowing through his head. "Yeah. Kinda."  
"Well, then, let's hurry along." Anna put away her apron and grabbed her handbag, heading out the door. Yoh followed quickly.  
***  
"Waii! So cute...!" Yoh poked against all the cat cages.  
Anna tapped her foot. "Are you gonna spend all your time here poking the cages? If that's the case, I'll just buy a cage for you, with a fake cat in it."  
"Aww...Anna. I want ALL of them!"  
Anna gave Yoh a glare. "No."  
"Hmmm...which one looks like Matamune then?" Yoh looked over the kittens.  
"You want a kitten or cat?"  
"Kitten! They're so cute!"  
"Bah! Quick. Choose your favorite and then we go. Don't forget, you have to take care of then yourself. Oh, and it can't cost more than 1000 yen. We're on a budget right now."  
"Awww...fine.." Yoh sighed as he looked at every kitten, suddenly he stopped at one cage. "This one looks exactly like Matamune!!" Yoh was right. The kitten he pointed at was light brown, with beady eyes. And it had some black stripes on it.  
Anna glanced at it and almost fell. "Ohmigosh. For a second, I thought it really was it..."  
"Wuehehe! We can't forget it, can't we? Right! I'll have this one!" Yoh looked for the price tag. "999 yen."  
Anna gave Yoh a look but paid the money to the shopkeeper of the pet shop.  
Yoh quickly held up the kitten, which was meowing. "I think I'll call you Matamune!"  
Anna shook her head. The kitten kept meowing.  
***  
"Matamune! Don't run! Come here!" Yoh cried as he ran after the kitten.  
Anna watched the two figures, interested.  
The kitten kept running. And Yoh kept running.  
All of a sudden, there was a crash. Anna looked at where the sound was from and stared angrily. On the floor, were pieces of broken glass from a vase, with wet flowers.  
"YOH!"  
"Uh-oh..."  
"Meow~.."  
***  
"That was my favorite vase!! You idiot!! How are you gonna repay me?!!" Anna shouted pointing at the mess.  
"Err...sorry Anna. I'm really sorry. But I don't know how to repay you."  
"Why...I'll think for you. Why not take that animal outside and never let it come in again. How's that? A good deal?" Anna replied calmly, eyes looking very dangerous.  
Yoh patted the kitten sadly and went out the door.  
"Meow..."  
"I know...Matamune..but since you broke the glass...this is your punishment."  
Matamune looked at Yoh with very sad eyes. Yoh looked back sympathetically, and then sighed.  
"Have fun for the night. I'm sorry..." And Yoh closed the door behind him.  
"I know it's not nice, but it's for the good of it. It has to learn."  
"But that's too cruel Anna..."  
"If you don't punish it, these situations will be repeated several times!"  
Yoh was at loss for words. "I guess so..." And he went to his room.  
Anna closed her eyes. "It has to learn...Yoh..."  
***  
The next morning, everything seemed peaceful.  
Yoh and Anna ate breakfast quietly.  
Yoh looked up. "Hey Anna, can I let it in now?"  
Anna nodded slowly, not bothering to look at him.  
Yoh smiled and quickly ran out to find the kitten. He found it at his feet as he opened the door. It meowed at him so sweetly that he scooped it up into his arms and gave it a hug.  
"Aww....you're so sweet!" But Yoh noticed some marks on their front door, and then he froze. The door was full of scratches. He could guess that Matamune had spent some time making this one of his hobbies for the night. "Hope that Anna doesn't see this..." He muttered.  
Too late. Anna was right behind him and had noticed it too.  
This time she didn't bother to say anything. Her eyes flashed and she pointed out the door.  
Yoh hung his head and closed the door behind the kitten again.  
"Anna...I can explain."  
"That. It explains it itself already. If I see something of that happening again, it will GO."  
"I promise it won't do that anymore..." Yoh begged desperately.  
"A rule's a rule. You gotta teach it." And Anna strolled back to the kitchen.  
***  
"Now Matamune, you have to be a very good cat."  
Matamune purred softly and leaned against Yoh's knees.  
Yoh sighed. "This will never work."  
"Perhaps I can help you Yoh-dono."  
Yoh's eyes lit up. "Amidamaru!" The spirit appeared at his side.  
"Try to communicate with the cat!"  
The spirit bowed and tried to talk to the cat.  
After a while, Amidamaru turned back to Yoh. "Yoh-dono. It's successful. It seems to be able to understand me. And I can understand it too."  
"Yatta! This will be great!" Yoh grinned. "Can you tell it not to do things without my permission?"  
Amidamaru nodded and told the cat. The cat purred and nodded its head.  
Yoh patted it on its head and went inside the house.  
***  
(The next morning)  
"Ohayou, Anna!"  
"Idiot. Don't say useless things. Gimme some breakfast."  
"Yes!" And Yoh boiled some eggs for her.  
"This isn;t good enough stupid. Looks like I'll have to do it myself again." Anna commented, frowning when she took a bit of it.  
Yoh sweatdropped but still was in a good mood. "I'll go call Matamune."  
Anna ignored the reply as she made breakfast.  
Yoh opened the door and saw the cat on the grass.  
"Ohayou Matamu--" He saw the cat shivering. "What's wrong?!"  
Amidamaru quickly appeared and talked to the cat. Matamune answered weakly.  
Amidamaru chuckled and said some more. Suddenly, the kitten stopped shivering and started wetting the grass.  
"?!"  
"Yoh-dono. it seems that it didn't quite understand your orders. It did obey, but it resisted all this the whole night."  
Yoh's jaw dropped open. "You poor kitten. Don't worry. If you can't bear it, then you can do it, okay?" He patted the kitten with purred happily.  
Amidamaru translated what Yoh said to Matamune. The kitten meowed again, even louder.  
"Heh! I like it. It's so cute! Come inside now!"  
The kitten gratefully followed Yoh inside their house.  
***  
"Here you go." Yoh put a small bowl of milk on the ground.  
The cat paused and looked at it suspiciously. Then it did an unexpected thing. It pounced on the plate, which made it all spill onto the ground. Yoh gasped. Anna bursted angrily.  
"OUT.OF.HERE.NOW!"  
Yoh looked at her pleadingly, but Anna's eyes were firm.  
He carried the poor puzzled kitten out of the house and went to the pet shop again.  
***  
When Yoh came home, Anna sat in her chair, expecting Yoh to start crying. But he didn't. Instead, he had a grin on his face, holding a small piece of paper.  
"What's up?" She asked curiously.  
Yoh smiled at her which made her shiver.  
"The shopkeeper said that using this little coupon, I can exchange Matamune for another pet of my choice!" Yoh said excitedly. Anna fell out of her chair.  
"What in the world?!"  
"Wuehehe! I wonder what I'll get? Help me decide, Anna!"  
Anna buried her face in her hands.  
***  
Note: Err..this is not the end. Still more chapters of course. But do you like this? R+R please. XD 


	2. Day 2

Another fanfic of Shaman King. I'll keep doing them until I'm bored of it. XD Anyway, this is supposed to be a humorous one! ^_^ (If there are typos, or something does not make sense, please be nice and contact me about it.)  
  
-SmilBe  
  
Disclaimer: How many times do I have to tell you, I DON'T EVEN OWN A TINY PIECE OF HIROYUKI'S GREAT WORK!  
  
Brand New Start---Day 2:  
  
It was ANOTHER typical morning.  
  
"Anna, what do ya think I should get?"  
  
"Didn't you realize how much trouble you had with the cat?!"  
  
"Don't remind me about Matamune," Said Yoh soberly. "So, should I get a dog or not?"  
  
Anna sighed, and just shrugged. Yoh blinked at her reaction.  
  
"Is that a yes or no?"  
  
"Your choice." Anna concluded.  
  
"Then it's decided~!" And Yoh scrambled out the front door, still holding the coupon.  
  
Anna took a bit out of her bacon, and chewed thoughtfully.  
  
***  
  
"Thanks for shopping and please come again!"  
  
Yoh clutched the leash of his new-bought puppy tightly as he wondered about what he should name it. The puppy noticed Yoh's thoughtful expression, and started barking. Yoh looked at it carefully, but it quickly tugged Yoh towards a store. Yoh glanced at the sign of the shop. A CD Store. But the dog was barking at an advertisement.  
  
An advertisement of Bob Love's new CD.  
  
The poster caught Yoh's attention immediately -- and his eyes sparkled as he stared dreamily at the poster of his favorite singer.  
  
"I-Want-It."  
  
The puppy whined and gave Yoh a pull. Yoh finally tore his eyes away, and suddenly got the perfect name for the puppy. He reached down, petted the dog, and said softly, "Your name is now officially "Bob Love"."  
  
And winked.  
  
The puppy wagged its tail back.  
  
***  
  
"I can't believe you really bought that darned animal into our house!"  
  
"Anna..! It's a puppy. And it's called Bob Love."  
  
"That's the most idiotic name I've ever heard in my life." Said Anna airily.  
  
"Hey! It fits for a singer and a pup! Oh, and could you give me some pocket money? I want to buy his new CD, "Love Da Bob". I heard that it's awesome!" Yoh tried to imitate Bob's dance moves but fell onto the floor instead.  
  
"Mmm...I'll think about it."  
  
"Really?!!" Yoh stood up, quite amazed at her amusing reply.  
  
"I'm in a good mood lately. Now go play with your Bob. I'm busy right now." Anna shoved Yoh away from her sight.  
  
"?" Yoh puzzled over her suspicious behavior as he took Bob Love out for a walk.  
  
After Yoh had left the house, Anna looked around thoroughly before sneaking out a small handbook. The title said, "How to Control your Husbands".  
  
Anna smiled slyly to herself.  
  
***  
  
"Mmm..."Love Da Bob"...I do hope Anna will let me purchase it..." Yoh smirked as he walked Bob Love to the park. The over-active puppy ran around in circles, joyful at the discover of new areas it hadn't been in before.  
  
After walking a distance, Yoh sniffed. "Ugh...what's that smell?!" He looked at Bob Love who had just halted, and his eyes widened at what he saw.  
  
"Bob Love did a poo!" He exclaimed before he could stop himself. Then Yoh started creeping away, when he had made sure there was no one looking.  
  
After all, it was the dog's fault, right?  
  
***  
  
"Anna~! Bob Love did a poo on the road!" Whined Yoh.  
  
Anna narrowed her eyes at him. "He's your pet. You are fully responsible for his behaviors and other stuff. You never knew?"  
  
Yoh shook his head innocently.  
  
She sighed. "Why do I have such a jerky husband?!"  
  
"Anna! At least teach me how to take care of that sort of situation!"  
  
"Fine. Follow me." The annoyed itako found a plastic bag and lead Yoh to the backyard of their home. "Now, if it was a solid waste, all you have to is find some sort of shovel to scoop it into the plastic bag."  
  
"Ahhh, I see..."  
  
"Good."  
  
"What about liquid wastes?"  
  
"Drag your dog into some grassy areas. Good use as a fertilizer."  
  
"I knew that."  
  
"As if." Anna cleaned herself up and went back inside.  
  
"I thought only solid wastes were good at fertilizers..." Yoh murmured to himself as he picked weeds off the grass.  
  
***  
  
Concluding Note: I'm not gonna get rid of the dog. Why should I? I love dogs! XD I know, I know -- I made this chapter short and a little bit pointless. But it still is an essential chapter. Concluding chapter is chapter 3. R+R please. 


	3. Day 3

Another fanfic of Shaman King. I'll keep doing them until I'm bored of it. XD Anyway, this is supposed to be a humorous one! ^_^ (If there are typos, or something does not make sense, please be nice and contact me about it.)  
-SmilBe  
  
Disclaimer: How many times do I have to tell you, I DON'T EVEN OWN A TINY PIECE OF HIROYUKI'S GREAT WORK!  
  
Note: Jack is made up. Not in the actual manga, of course.  
  
Brand New Start---Day 3:  
  
"Want to convince your husbands? All you need to do is this..." Anna slowly read aloud the text on her guidebook.  
  
"ANNA! Bob pooped AGAIN~!"  
  
The itako snapped her book shut and clenched her fists. "BAKA! GO CLEAN IT UP!"  
  
"It smells!" Yoh's voice called back.  
  
Anna breathed out and opened her book again, this time, reading quietly to herself. "I have to get him to give up his stupid animal. It's getting too much for me to handle...."  
  
***  
  
"Yoh-kun...why do you have a pet?"  
  
"Manta, Bob is quite fun. Have you tried playing with it?"  
  
"I have an allergy with dogs..." Manta lied.  
  
"That's not true. Bob's not a dog. He's a puppy!" Said Yoh jokingly.  
  
"They're the same species. Don't you get tired of it...?"  
  
Yoh stared into the space. "Perhaps Bob's a little annoying with his behavior, but somehow, having a pet gives me a comfortable feeling. I..I just can't...describe it."  
  
"You make me wonder, Yoh-kun. How you can think so far...and I, although I have knowledge, I just can't think of philosophical ideas."  
  
"Wuehehe! You don't need to. I don't either. I just want an easy life!"  
  
"But having a pet is not an easy life!"  
  
"Nah. It's quite easy," Yoh looked at his watch. "Ahh! I've gotta go Manta. Anna wants me to do dinner today. We take turns. Cya!"  
  
***  
  
Anna put down her fork. "Yoh, I want to talk to you about your dog."  
  
Yoh was surprised. Anna hardly ever talk about serious matters with Yoh. "Yeah?"  
  
"I WANT TO GET RID OF YOUR DOG!"  
  
"....eh?"  
  
"I said, I want your dog OUT of this house." Anna repeated patiently.  
  
"...Uhh...why?"  
  
"Because, it's stupid. And will only cause accidents in our house."  
  
Yoh stood up. "But that's not an excuse to kick my precious Bob out of the house!"  
  
"It's excellent reasoning Yoh." She said coldly.  
  
"NO IT'S NOT! Why can't you just understand me?" Yoh yelled angrily and ran out of the dining room.  
  
Anna sighed. "Maybe I just don't understand you..."  
  
***  
  
"Bob...do you like me?" Yoh poked a stick into the ground in the backyard.  
  
The puppy stared at Yoh with its puppy eyes.  
  
"I guess you do. But somehow, Anna doesn't. Why though? Is there a better reason than that you cause trouble? You don't really cause a lot of trouble, do you?"  
  
Bob just barked lightly, lying on its back.  
  
"I won't let anyone take you away...even if I betray Anna..."  
  
***  
  
THE NEXT MORNING.......  
  
Anna held out a piece of paper in front of Yoh. He scanned it, and froze.  
  
"You see, apparently someone is looking for his dog, and that it was taken to the pet shop awhile ago accidently. And it looks EXACTLY like yours. What are you going to do about this, I ask you."  
  
Yoh was speechless. Why is this happening? Is God trying to take Bob away from Yoh? This is insane!  
  
"I have no objection of giving back the puppy. But it's your decision." Anna chewed on her drumstick cheerfully.  
  
"I'm going to find the owner." Yoh declared, heading for the door.  
  
Anna smiled to herself. "At least I convinced him to go find the owner. Hopefully everything will go accordingly to my plan."  
  
***  
  
"Are you Jack?"  
  
"Yes, I am. What can I do for you?"  
  
"It's about your missing dog." Yoh said in a serious tone.  
  
"Oh! Yes. Have you found it? Can I have it back?"  
  
"Yes. And no. I've got it, but you can't have it back."  
  
Jack frowned. "Why not?"  
  
"Because, I paid for it. And I have the right to keep it. See you then." Yoh then walked away.  
  
The man puzzled over Yoh's speech and shrugged. "It seems that he really likes my dog. Oh well. He shall keep it. That means I don't have to worry about it."  
  
***  
  
"So, how did it go?"  
  
"I got to keep it." Yoh grinned.  
  
"Oh darn." Anna murmured.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Anna, PLEASE understand that keeping a puppy at home is not gonna kill you! Besides, I need a friend at home."  
  
"I thought you already have Manta." Asked Anna.  
  
"Manta's different. There are some qualities in animals that humans do not have."  
  
"There's also some qualities in humans where animals don't have."  
  
"EXACTLY. Do you get what I'm saying, Anna?"  
  
"Not really."  
  
Yoh sighed. "Dogs can somehow be useful in some ways too."  
  
"You'll have to show me."  
  
"..." Yoh didn't know HOW to show Anna.  
  
Anna checked the kitchen clock. "It's almost lunch. Have you fed him yet?"  
  
"Oh darn, I forgot!" Yoh fetched some dog food and rushed out.  
  
***  
  
"Bob, how can we show Anna you're useful?"  
  
The pup just gobbled up its lunch hungrily, ignoring Yoh's question.  
  
"There's gotta be a way..."  
  
***  
  
Yoh hummed along with his CD Player.  
  
Anna glanced at him. "You still listening to that old Bob CD?"  
  
Yoh took of his earphones. "Yeah. I told you I wanted that new one..."  
  
"It seems that I've been too harsh on you. I'll go and buy it for you." Announced Anna.  
  
Yoh stared at Anna. "You mean it?"  
  
"If you keep asking, I don't mean it." Anna found her purse and headed out the door.  
  
Yoh followed quickly. "Wait! Anna, you know which one it is?!"  
  
""Love Da Bob", didn't you mention that before?" Anna called back as she walked away.  
  
***  
  
As Anna walked down the street, although her expression was stern, inside, she was actually smiling.  
  
Point 3 to convince your husbands: Do something for him, and he will think he owes you something. That will definitely encourage him to think over your decision, and hopefully, in the end, he will agree.  
  
Anna imagined the scene that she would come upon when she returned home. She couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for Yoh as she crossed the road absently, enjoying the picture in her mind. Not aware of her surroundings, she heard a loud barking. She suddenly snapped back to reality, seeing a car headed for her, and immediately dashed across. The car barely missed her by a few inches. When Anna turned her head around, she saw Yoh's puppy, barking madly from the other side of the road.  
  
When she had caught her breath again, she pretended to not see Bob, and walked towards the CD store.  
  
***  
  
"Anna! You really did buy it for me!" Yoh greeted Anna joyfully as he opened the door to let her in.  
  
"If I said I would, then it shall be done. By the way, where's Bob?"  
  
"Hmmm? Oh, that's right. We need to talk about that."  
  
"???"  
  
"I've been thinking Anna, that Bob doesn't really benefit us in many things, does it? Well, so when you went out, I let him out..."  
  
"STUPID!! Did I tell you to let him go?!!" Anna raged.  
  
"Well, you said you wanted to get rid of him..."  
  
"I wanted to. But I didn't, did I?!!" The itako ran out the door. Yoh, astonished with her behavior, followed her out.  
  
***  
  
"Where are you, Bob?!"  
  
"Amidamaru, can you go up and help me find that dog?"  
  
"It shall be done, Yoh-dono." The spirit flew up into the sky.  
  
About half an hour later of searching in the area near where Anna and Yoh lived, Amidamaru returned with good news.  
  
"Yoh-dono, I have found the puppy. Fortunately, it is not hurt. But it seemed to be starving..." Amidamaru reported.  
  
"Hurry then!" Anna ordered as Amidamaru lead the two towards where Bob Love, the puppy was at.  
  
***  
  
EPILOGUE:  
And now everything is quite normal again in the Asakura household. Anna is still a short-tempered girl who orders people around easily. And Yoh is still the carefree boy that is a victim of Anna's orders. But recently added to their household was, the dog, Bob Love. Yoh never quite found out why Anna had changed her mind about Bob Love. Anna never hinted about the accident that happened that day to anyone. And she never thought about going to. And so, the days go on...with maybe SOME chaos following...which is not neccesary to add in here.  
  
***  
END OF STORY.  
  
Concluding Note: Hmmm --- this is weird. Did I make Yoh and Anna a bit OOC in this chapter? I reckon I did. And, I added an epilogue in this fic!! Please don't mind my sudden ending. R+R please, as usual. 


End file.
